Whether you are a potential exporter or are an existing exporter looking to expand into new markets, consider the following points.
Are you committed?
Developing a market can be costly in terms of time, money and resources. For example, if your company wants to be successful, senior managers will not get away with a single visit to the market. Success may only come after numerous visits and the development of relationships. Commitment to exporting is important at every level of your organisation.
How well do your know your product or service?
It is important to know your product or service and its marketing advantages. Can it be tailored to suit a new market if required?
What is your production capacity?
You need to be confident that your product or service is sufficiently proven and developed. If you are manufacturing in New Zealand, do you have the production capacity to meet market demands? If you are looking to manufacture offshore you need to factor in the many hidden costs such as greater management overheads, inflexible manufacturing schedules and quality management and cost issues.
Export marketing
Marketing is not easy thanks to cultural and language differences. It is vital to have a strong marketing understanding.
Selecting markets and setting pricing
You need to have done the research to validate both the potential and the investment.
Management and international sales management
Exporting requires considerable commitment of management time. To be successful you will need to at least consider hiring managers familiar with the export market. Does your company have the management capacity required to develop the market?
Do you have the finance to export?
Does your company have the financial strength to commit the money and the time it may take to develop the market with no guarantee of a return on this investment? Breaking into an offshore market requires considerable funds for research, airfares, accommodation, advertising, trade fairs, sales promotion, new brochures, training of overseas sales agents etc. You also need to watch out for hidden costs relating to language and cultural issues, and the time you need to spend building relationships and intellectual property protection.
